Shine
by SVZ
Summary: [An Hikaru no Go Boyband AU fic] If music, instead of Go, was the center of their universe. [Will have shounen ai AkiHika and WaySumi content later.] Multichaptered.
1. Number Five

Author's Note: Hikaru no Go AU Boyband fic. It's gen for now, but not for long. Some slashy overtones.

Disclaimer: I don't own Hikaru no Go.

**Number Five**

by SVZ

* * *

Touya Akira once heard of a flower whose color could never be captured on film because it looked different every time people tried. It was like people trying to capture the magic of a sunset, the picture could always be beautiful—but never quite the breathtaking spectacle you would experience first-hand. _Always close, but not the same,_ he thought, and he held firm in his opinion that pictures and recordings were never as good as the original—they were ersatz-- _inferior_.

The same could be said of Shindou Hikaru's singing.

* * *

Sometimes, Akira wondered where his priorities were, and then when he thought about it, he decided that not knowing was better for his peace of mind. Music was definitely up there—and _way_ up there—but it wasn't healthy for him to place music above food, was it?

He pondered about that for a little while, and decided to do what he always did when he was at a loss… he blamed Waya.

_Technically_, this time it _was_ Waya's fault for screwing things up. The auditions they had planned had went on much longer than they intended and Waya refused to let them end at the proper time ("What if the next person is the one we're looking for?") and left all of them tired, hungry, and pissed off as hell at the brunet. They had spent the entire afternoon and the better part of the evening rejecting hopelessly untalented but hopeful teenage boys and _dammit_he was tired and hungry, and there was no way he could muster up the strength to cook anything without the high possibility of burning down his apartment.

Most restaurants were closed at this hour, and he didn't think he could stomach fast food, so he thought the next best thing to do was to grab a drink and then crash on his bed and not wake up until noon the next day.

That was when he discovered Shindou Hikaru-- in a karaoke bar, ten blocks and a subway stop away from his apartment.

The bar was modeled after the ones in America; featuring a small stage and the floor resembling a nightclub dance floor opposed to separate, private rooms. It was because of the Americanized set up that attracted teenage girls to it, but really, Akira only went in because he knew their vending machines carried his favorite brand of green tea and he was craving for some _good, _ice-coldgreen tea.

Akira was one step away from popping open the can when the beginning of a familiar song captured his attention. Or rather, the singer's voice did.

His first thought was, _Hey, this person isn't half bad…. _and he closed his eyes and soaked in the sound, before blinking and realizing, _This isn't sung by a girl…_ and that was when he did a double take.

A teenager around his age was on the stage, dressed in a burnt orange t-shirt with a number "five" logo in bright yellow, black cargos, a black hoop earring in his left ear, and his bleached blond bangs almost glowing in the spotlight. When he turned around, Akira noted that his eyes were a vivid shade of green, and at the moment, they seemed to be glaring at a girl—his girlfriend?—who was standing in the crowd, looking triumphant and amused.

_He's good-looking,_ Akira realized, and then felt a wave of relief wash over him when his second thought was, _But__ his voice is even better. _Akira then blinked, wondering why he even cared, it wasn't like this guy was auditioning.

His voice was good, smooth and almost sweet with a hint of depth in his low notes, but rough and inconsistent in a way that was fitting to the singer. He started out well, and then seemed to stumble over the chorus before getting it together by the third verse. Potentially good, but not perfect—and Akira admitted that the song the other teen chose was a difficult—T.M. Revolution wasn't known for having slow songs, after all.

_He would probably be better at ballads_. Akira stole a glance around and felt himself growing more certain. _Damn, he even has stage presence._

Akira snapped himself out of his thoughts when the song was over, and impatiently pushed his way across the floor while a mediocre teenage girl singing a Koda Kumi song took the stage.

There was no way Touya Akira was going to let _this _slip through his fingers, that's for sure. He didn't care if he had to get down on his own freaking hands and knees and _beg _to convince his band members to let this guy audition—this kid was definitely talented, and the crowd of people surrounding him can attest to that. Talent was something that was hard to come by, but a person with enough stage presence to capture the attention of the entire room was even rarer. You can teach anyone to sing, but you can't teach them how to get everyone's attention.

A couple of girls recognized him, he realized, and he winced inwardly at the realization. He smiled and nodded at them, hoping they wouldn't ask for autographs but he did ask if any of them knew the singer's name.

One of them told him his name was Shindou Hikaru, before dissolving in a fit of high pitch giggles.

Shindou could be found talking animatedly with his female friend, looking annoyed. Pieces of their conversation reached his ears before he actually did.

"Akari, I can't believe you made me sing. Dammit, You _know _I haven't sung since—"

"Hikaru, don't you think that you should look towards the future? You have so much talent, it's such a shame that—"

Akira cleared his throat, and the two of them jumped slightly in surprise. Shindou looked at him warily and his friend surveyed him with mild curiosity.

"Shindou Hikaru?" Akira asked, smoothly, and the blond nodded, again looking bemused and a bit suspicious of his intentions, his green eyes narrowing slightly. "I'm Touya Akira, and I'm part of—"

"You're in that new boy band-- 'Go Jumpy Boys'," Akari exclaimed. "Your father's also the president of that music agency." She turned to Hikaru, who gave her a rather strange look, and rolled her eyes. "I've been hanging around Nase too much… you know how she is about the music business. She's trying to get out of modeling and into singing, after all..."

Akira raised an eyebrow. "You certainly know a lot," Akira said, impressed. "I'm afraid I didn't catch your—"

"Fujisaki Akari—but call me 'Akari' or I'll think you're talking to my mother," she introduced herself, flashing a small smile, and Akira couldn't help but return it, wishing silently that all his fans would behave more like _her_ and less like… obsessive, stalkerish fans. She seemed stubborn and slightly pushy, but she was friendly.

"… And this has to do with me, how?" Shindou asked, flatly. Akira was taken back by the other teen's aloof attitude.

"I'm in a band," Akira said quickly, cutting straight to the point. "I want you to audition for it."

Shindou looked up, and Akira's voice got caught in his throat when Shindou turned his piercing eyes to his. "I don't see why I _should_," he stated. "I'm not really interested in music anyway…"

"Hikaru! That's not true—" Akari protested loudly, sending an apologetic look to Akira. Although she was trying to be helpful, they had only called attention to themselves with the yelling.

"How about we talk about this over something?" Akira suggested, casting an uneasy look at all the unwanted attention. "We could grab a cup of coffee or ramen, or something…"

Shindou's lips threaten to twitch into a smile, and his eyes lit up. "Ramen?" he practically purred, and Akira could hear Akari slapping her forehead and groaning.

"Sure," Akira assured him. "Whatever you want…" he turned to Akari. "Of course, you're welcome to join us as well."

Akari grinned, and Akira was reminded how that even though he wasn't attracted to her (since, well, he honestly preferred guys over girls—not that any of his fans know, of course)—Akari _was _indeed, a very pretty girl.

* * *

Twenty minutes later, Akira was sitting across from Shindou and Akari in a dimly lit restaurant and watching Shindou draining his wallet dry. So far, Shindou had glowered while Akari explained the situation to him.

Shindou had never been interested in singing until about a couple of years ago when the choir teacher in junior high heard him sing the first couple of lines of a popular anime show, and persistently asked him to join the school chorus until he relented. There seemed to be more to the story before Akari trailed off, uncertainly.

Finally, Shindou excused himself to the bathroom, and Akari continued.

"Our choir teacher, Fujiwara-sensei, was really young," Akari began again. "He was like an older brother to everyone and he was really kind; everyone liked him. Hikaru and Sai –he asked everyone to call him by his first name—were practically brothers, and Hikaru became interested in music."

Akira nodded, wondering where the story would lead.

"Hikaru has a great voice, and Sai told him he could go far with it, so Hikaru took up the guitar for a little while, and he even performed in a couple of places. He was really close to scoring a record deal, too… but then…" Akari lowered her voice, "Sai got into a car accident about a year ago… and he didn't make it.

"The entire school was shocked, but Hikaru took it especially hard. Sai was Hikaru's mentor and like I said before, they were as close as brothers… Hikaru just stopped singing and playing the guitar. He focused in school and his grades went up, but today is actually the first time he actually sang since then."

"How did you convince him?" asked Akira, in wonderment. "I mean, I've only met Shindou and I already know that—"

"He's pigheaded? Yeah, well, we've been friends since we were five, and I know he couldn't refuse a bet," Akari confided, smirking. "He's so empty without music, so I did him a favor and told him that he probably sucked at singing now that he's all out of practice…"

"… and he bought it?"

"Yup. Hook, line, and sinker."

"No offense, but Shindou doesn't sound like the brightest bulb in the box," Akira remarked, wryly.

"Oh, his grades can attest to that." Akari blinked, "Um, so, why do you need a new member for 'Go Jumpy Boys'?"

The abrupt change of subject caught Akira off guard. "Huh? Oh, um, well, there's me, Waya, and Isumi, and Kaga used to be in it—but he got caught smoking cigarettes and that our producer kicked him out because it ruined our image or something like that… so we needed a fourth member. We're being produced by G.O. Entertainment—not my father's agency, you see."

"Wouldn't I screw up your band's image? From what I'm thinking, it'll be another stupid cookie-cutter pop group like 'w-inds' or 'KAT-TUN'," Shindou said, dryly, popping up behind him, and Akira thought absently that _that_ was why Akari had switched topic so suddenly. Shindou was obviously referring to his bleached hair,

"We're actually more like a younger Porno Graffitti with a bit of L'arc en Ciel without the weird outfits, thank you very much." Akira looked over Shindou's outfit and dismissed it. "Nah. You'll be fine as long as you don't screw up by smoking or doing something stupid." Akira's lips twitched in amusement when Shindou looked disappointed. "The girls will like your look."

"That is," Shindou interjected. "Assuming I audition and your producer and band members agree."

"You're the one who worried whether or not your image would be accepted or not," Akira pointed out, and he felt like snickering when Shindou looked positively murderous.

"Look," Shindou said, curtly. "I doubt your band members would even _like_ me—"

"Want to bet on that?" Akira asked, baiting him.

Shindou threw a disgusted look at Akari, "I don't know what or how much _she_ told you but I'm not—"

"Hikaru," Akari interrupted. "Sai would have wanted you to try out."

There was a long silence while Akari drained the remainder of her drink and Shindou looked torn between anger and shock, and Akira felt as though he interrupted a lover's quarrel.

Akari broke the silence first, pulling out her cell phone and grimacing at what she saw. "Mitani called me a couple of times," she said, putting her cell phone back into her bag. "It's late, I should probably go home," she apologized. "Thanks for the tea, Touya-san."

Shindou stood up as soon as Akari was out of sight, "Stupid girl… she's wearing a _school uniform_ at this hour, too. Mitani would have my head if I let her go home alone," he muttered, crossly.

"Who's Mitani?" Akira asked.

"Her boyfriend." At Akira's stunned look, Shindou smirked. "Yeah, I bet you thought we were together, right?"

"Uh, yes… sorry about—"

"Don't get your panties all in a twist. Everyone thinks that at first." Shindou sighed, and dug up an old receipt from his wallet. "Have a pen?"

Instead of answering, Akira handed him one from his pocket.

"Nice," Shindou commented, eyeing the pen. Akira had to admit that it _was_ rather nice _and _expensive. It was a present from his mother and he was rather attached to it, and he intended to keep it that way. Seeing Akira's look, Shindou rolled his eyes. "Don't worry, I'm not going to pocket it. Here." He handed him back the pen and the crumpled up receipt. "Call or text me sometime tonight, OK? Then we can set up a time or something."

Before Akira could respond, Shindou was already gone.

* * *

Akira wasn't worried. No, he wasn't worried _at__ all_ because being worried meant that he didn't have any confidence in Shindou's abilities, and that was completely untrue because he had never been more certain about anything else in his life. Right. So, therefore, he wasn't worried.

Well, maybe he was a bit concerned, and to be fair, it wasn't exactly Shindou's talent he was distressed about.

It was actually his hair and clothes… and was that _another_ hole in his left—never mind. Akira decided he didn't want to know.

"Shindou, didn't you have anything else to wear?" Akira asked, pained.

Shindou looked over his clothes and replied breezily, "Of course I did, but I just felt like wearing this today. Got a problem?"

Akira felt a migraine coming on. "No, no," he sighed. "Not a—did you bleach your hair even lighter?"

"Uh huh. I even pierced my left ear again too. Neat, huh?"

If they were in broad daylight in the middle of Tokyo, Akira would have strangled him. Shindou just _had_ to make it difficult for him, didn't he? It was bad enough his outfit was… well, it consisted of olive green cargos and a yellow shirt with the message "I know you are, but what am I?" in white lettering, and a bright green sweatshirt tied around his waist. It was enough to blind someone, and Akira noted the number five emblazoned on the sleeve of the sweatshirt.

_What is up with this guy and number five? Seriously…_

"… and this is coming from someone who has their hair in a ponytail, hypocrite. 'Sides, I thought you said my image was perfect for the band, Touya," Shindou said, smugly, snapping Akira out of his thoughts.

"Huh? What? Oh, uh, yes, but—"Akira started. "Oh look, we're here." Akira breathed a sigh of relief. _Saved.__ I think._

* * *

In the end, he shouldn't have worried. He should have realized why he found Shindou so irritating—it was because he reminded him too much of someone else whom he hung around with often.

Waya.

Naturally, Waya and Shindou had hit it off immediately. Waya had been reading a magazine in a chair when they came in, and he looked up and grinned once he got a good look at Shindou.

"Damn, Touya. He's prettier than you are!" Waya got up and introduced himself to Shindou. "I'm Waya, and I can tell you for sure that I don't have a stick up my ass like Touya."

"That's good to hear," Shindou replied, shooting Akira a look.

Akira decided to ignore Waya's comments and called Shindou's attention over to the remaining band member (who, in his opinion, was the only other sane person in the room). "Shindou, I want you to meet Isumi."

Isumi smiled warmly. "Nice to meet you. So, Touya tells us that you sing?"

* * *

Akira placed the CD in his CD player, cranked up the volume, and put on his headphones, while leaning back into the headboard of his bed. He was feeling pretty damn accomplished.

As always, Akira's opinion remained the same and he doubted anyone else could persuade him otherwise.

A CD recording could never capture the emotions, beauty, and authenticity of a song that could be heard live. You couldn't see Isumi's long fingers fly over the keyboards, Waya's forehead glisten with sweat when he played the drums, Shindou's eyes squeezed shut and his head thrown back in concentration as he belted the lyrics to a song that Akira never thought would get sung.

Still, Akira admitted, as the beginning of their soon-to-be-released first single started. _A recording's close. Not perfect, but close._ Shindou's raw, compelling voice filled his ears.

Oh yes, 'Go Jumpy Boys' were definitely going to get somewhere.

His fingers traced over the cover and then their title of their first single.

_5.5.05._

Akira shook his head, wondering why everyone hadn't refused when Shindou asked if he could name their first single and if they could release the single on that date. Maybe it was because they were afraid Shindou would drop out if he didn't, or maybe it was because they saw the desperate need in his green eyes… whatever it was, _someday_ , he needed to ask Hikaru what the deal was with him and the number five.

* * *

Hmm. Not a one-shot. I might post some drabbles that might are coorelated to this universe.

**Constructive criticism and coherent feedback welcomed. **


	2. Immutable

Author's Note: Made some changes, the fic is now in present tense and a lot less wordy. Still the ridiculously cliché Boyband AU, still eventual AkiHika with a side of WaySumi. Happy New Year to everyone, and hope you enjoy this chapter.

A lot of thanks goes out to people over on LJ. Thanks for the support, guys.

Disclaimer: I don't own Hikaru no Go nor "Stand Inside Your Love" by The Smashing Pumpkins (don't worry, not a songfic.)

**Chapter Two: Immutable **

* * *

"So, not only is our manager creepy, he's also a cheapskate. There are only two beds," Hikaru says. Contrary to his comment, he sounds cheerful and is already admiring the spiffy hotel room Ogata-san and Ashiwara-san has provided them.

"Hey, I like Ashiwara-san," Waya protests. He winces when he tries to lift Hikaru's bag. "Oy, Hikaru—what did you bring? Rocks?"

"I meant Ogata-san," Hikaru replies, absently. He forgets Waya's question when something white in the corner of his room caught his eye. "Sweet! Is that a minibar?" he asks, wandering over. "Damn, it's got everything…"

"Ashiwara-san is trying to get us another room. This hotel is booked." Akira doesn't know why he even bothered an explanation. Hikaru's too preoccupied plotting a way to get the goodies out of the minibar without actually having to pay to listen.

Instead, he surveys their room; taking in the two beds, large TV, minibar, couch, and desk. It's quite spacious, much to his surprise, although he wonders if the closet would be big enough for all them to use.

Hikaru's head is sticking out the window. "Oh, wow. We're like, on the top floor!"

Waya raises an eyebrow and looks at Isumi. He grins, jerking his thumb at Hikaru, mouthing "Easily excitable, isn't he?"

Isumi smiles in return, shaking his head. His expression tells Waya to humor Hikaru. Isumi begins unpacking, his clothes lying in neat piles on top of the navy blue coverlet.

Waya manages to wrestle Hikaru away from the minibar for a little while. "Shindou, we need to figure out the sleeping arrangements."

Hikaru makes a face. "Oh, fine." He looks from one bed to another, and throws himself onto the one closer to the window. "I'm claiming this one," he announces in a sing-song fashion. He reaches over and tosses his bag onto the bed.

Waya looks ready to throw something at Hikaru (probably Hikaru's duffel if Waya could only lift it) so Akira quickly intervenes. "Waya means that we need to figure out who—er—well, sleeps with whom"—Akira is mortified when his face turns red—"since we have to double up."

Hikaru chews his bottom lip thoughtfully. "Oh " he says, appearing indifferent.

Waya looks at Akira and shakes his head, stepping backwards to fall beside Isumi. "Touya, no offense but—"

"The feeling's mutual, don't worry."

Waya sighs, relieved. He nods towards Hikaru, "Shindou, I like you and all but we've only known each other for a short period of time and well, it's not like I don't like you, it's just that--"

Hikaru cuts Waya off short. "So it's settled then." Hikaru smiles. "Akira and I will sleep together." Hikaru bounces off the bed and returns back to his beloved minibar.

Akira feels funny after hearing those words. He blames it on the cookies Shindou bought from the sketchy-looking grocery store.

--

Akira learns that Hikaru is a very restless sleeper who's also in very deep denial.

"I don't have sleeping problems," he retorts, defensive when Akira approaches him with the subject. "I don't snore either." Hikaru gargles and spits into the sink.

Akira sighs and reaches around Hikaru to get his toothbrush. "If you say so," he says, tiredly.

Hikaru grins, "Glad we had this talk. I'm going to go order us breakfast."

"Hikaru," Akira says plaintively. "We're not suppose to order room service."

"So?"

"Never mind."

Waya walks in right when Hikaru leaves. For once he looks sympathetic. "Shindou's snores kept me up. Let's pray Ashiwara-san managed to get us another room, eh?"

Akira stares at Waya's reflection, too tired to respond. He accidentally squeezes his container of toothpaste too hard-- it splatters all over his shirt.

"It looks like a bird just crapped all over you," Waya informs him helpfully.

Akira thinks that it's a start to a Very Bad Day.

--

Ogata-san is trying to kill us, Hikaru thinks dully. He looks at his other three bandmates and they too, seem to share his same sentiments.

He slides his card into the key and let them in, Ogata's words still ringing in his head ("An hour's break. Go eat lunch or something, I don't care--but remember—Shindou, Touya-- don't drink any milk. It's bad for your vocal chords. We'll be practicing on your new single for the rest of the day.").

Hikaru has first dibs on the bed. He groans and fumbles around his bag for his MP3 player, "Good god, I'm going to skip lunch and just sleep 'til it's time to go through Ogata's Boot Camp again."

Isumi seats himself onto the couch near the windows, leaning backwards so he can see the traffic below. "It wasn't that bad," he comments, smiling.

Hikaru gives him a withering look. "He made Touya and I sing the same part over and over again _seventeen _times. He's a _slave driver_." He turns to Waya and Akira. "You guys agree with me, right?"

"Uh, sure." Waya looks uncomfortable, sneaking looks around the room. "Whatever you say."

"We wouldn't have to repeat it so many times if you didn't screw up," Akira points out. "At least we finished."

Hikaru scowls at him. "It's not entirely my fault, you know. You also messed up just as many times as I did."

"Guys, you two just suck at duets. That's all," Waya comments wearily. He turns on the TV and blinks when he sees a sports drink commercial with their last single, _Drowning_. "Wow, you'd think they could have at least picked a more cheerful song."

"Do any of you know what song we're doing next?" Hikaru asks, playing around with his music player. He tries to ignore Waya's comment although he thinks that really is the root of the problem. He and Touya are too used to singing by themselves and not together. It's sort of a pity, their voices sound pretty nice once blended correctly.

"I think we're doing a cover of an American song," Isumi answers. He pulls out a bento lunch, looking at the rest of his bandmates quizzically. "Aren't you guys hungry?"

"No," Hikaru groans. "Do not speak of food to me." He turns the volume up, loud enough for everyone to hear snippets of ORANGE RANGE through his headphones.

The sudden invasion of Engrish reminds Akira of something." You _can _speak English, right?" Akira looks at Hikaru expectantly. "You took it at school?"

"Of course I took English in school," Hikaru says, dismissively. He pauses, fiddling with his headphone cord. "I... just never paid much attention in class."

Akira feels like banging his head against the wall.

This can't be happening.

--

This can't be happening. Hikaru isn't showing off like he usually is (Akira cannot believe the crap the blond says about not knowing how to read sheet music) and he is _not_ singing "Stand Inside Your Love" like an American.

He is not.

Akira closes his eyes, pretends this isn't happening to him, and nearly misses his cue.

He gets chewed out by Ogata-san after recording, while Waya, being the helpful bloke he is, doubles up in silent laughter in the background.

Isumi sends him a sympathetic look from behind Ogata's back.

--

Waya brings it up as soon as they're in their hotel room. Akira is sitting at the corner, sulking because he got reprimanded by Ogata-san. Waya, on the other hand, is seated next to Isumi—stealing morsels from Isumi's bento when Isumi isn't looking. Not Isumi would mind anyway.

Hikaru is still humming the song while slurping a bowl of ramen.

"How the hell did you pull _that_ off?" Waya demands, skipping over tact and heading straight to the point. "You practically said you slept through English class throughout school."

Hikaru blinks. "Oh, no. I really do suck at English," he says, sheepishly.

"Then explain how you managed to pull off 'Stand Inside Your Love' so well that even Ogata-san complimented you?" Waya's eyes dart all over the room.

"Touya wasn't singing with me," Hikaru answers in jest. He flinches after Akira glares at him. "I learned it from my old music teacher. He was a big rock fan so I was literally forced to listen to The Smashing Pumpkins nonstop," Hikaru answers, impatiently. He waves his chopsticks in the air, "Why do you always look so shifty anyway?"

Waya blushes. "I, er.. amafraidthatOgata-sanmighthavebuggedourroom." After seeing everyone's expressions, he puts his hands up in defense, adding hastily, "Hey, it could happen!"

Hikaru stares at his brunet friend, almost upsetting his ramen. "You. No more Men in Black movies for a month."

Waya turns redder under his tan and refuses to speak to Hikaru for the rest of the evening.

"Waya, give it a break," Isumi whispers to him, before they drift off to sleep. "We have to perform on a show tomorrow."

--

Hikaru blinks drowsily when their morning wake up call comes through. After making a sad attempt to reach the phone, he decides he likes it much better tangled up under all the warm blankets with a pillow covering his head.

Some profuse swearing in the next bed makes it known that Waya's now awake and is also trying to get the damn thing to shut up.

After a while, Hikaru realizes that the bed felt rather roomy for two. _Very _roomy. He finds that quite odd, considering the night before, he had an awful time trying to get to sleep (despite Waya's flabbergasted comment, "What do you mean? You slept like a rock!") because of the not-enough-room-for-two issue.

He pokes his arm out tentatively and is even more confused when he realizes he has the entire bed to himself.

"Hikaru, we have to get to the station in an hour."

Hikaru untangles himself from the blankets. "Touya? Er, why are you—" he turns to look at the couch, and sees a pillow and a folded blanket.

"It's nothing," Akira tells him, looking a bit funny. Akira grabs a black elastic from his wrist and pull his hair back into a ponytail. "Um, I like it near the window."

Hikaru eyes the dark-haired singer strangely, "If you say so."

Akira then becomes exasperated when Hikaru takes that as an opportunity to fall back asleep.

--

Akira doesn't know what to think when Ogata tells them that they're expected to play "Stand Inside Your Love" five minutes before they were suppose to be introduced.

"But we just practiced it yesterday!" he hisses, alarmed. "I don't think that we're ready. _I'm _not ready yet—I messed up on my pronunciation during rehearsal."

Ogata lights his cigarette and looks down at Akira. "Well," he says, slowly. "You better not make the same mistake again, huh?"

Akira is most certain that he is _thisclose_ to hyperventilating when he feels Hikaru's hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry," he tells Akira cheerfully. "I'm sure we'll kick ass." He hands Akira his guitar right in time. The host is just introducing them.

--

The thing about Hikaru is that he doesn't just light up a stage—he lights up every room he walks in, Akira thinks, watching the city streets go by out of the van's window. Hikaru's head is resting on his shoulder, he's worn out from their impromptu performance in which not only were they asked to perform the single they're working on—they were also asked to perform their previous ones too.

Hikaru's bleached bangs keeps fluttering whenever he breathes in and out.

The thing about Hikaru is that… he's not even aware of it all.

"You know," Waya says, from Hikaru's left. "I think a picture of Shindou like this would make a good cover for our new single."

Akira nods in agreement and tosses Isumi his digital camera.

--

The volume's turned down low as not to disturb the other guests. Akira's pleasantly surprised when he finds out that he didn't screw up on the English lyrics and he sounds good.

Hikaru, on the other hand, is appalled. "Why didn't anyone tell me my mouth looks weird when I sing?" he moans. He pushes his dinner away. "I look like a freak…"

"You do not," Akira tells him, not tearing his eyes away from the screen. Hikaru didn't look stupid if the screaming from all his fangirls were of any indication. The camera pans through the audience and several girls were holding up signs and throwing kisses at them.

Waya and Isumi lose interest when their songs are over and the host immediately begins to bombard them with questions.

"_Are there any upcoming plans for opening your own clothing line?"_

_"… Say, what?" Hikaru asks, looking flustered and scandalized. "Clothing line?"_

_"According to the last poll in Oricon Style, you won by an overwhelming 57 as to the male newcomer with the best fashion sense, what do you have to say to that?"_

_Hikaru looks over his outfit, still looking confused. "…I'm flattered but to as far I know, there will be no clothing line opening any time soon…" he says, laughing. "I usually steal clothes from Waya or Touya when I forget to do laundry."_

Akira steals a look at Hikaru, who is still cringing over how stupid he thinks he looked when singing. He feels doubt creeping up over him again.

He's willing to bet that most fans of "Go Jumpy Boys!" have no idea he's the official 'leader' of the group.

Akira's not sure if he's jealous of Hikaru or secretly relieved.

--TBC—

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Comments, constructive criticism, flames, and feedback very much loved and encouraged. Have a good year, everyone. 


	3. Simply Pulls the String

**Title: **Shine 3?

**Author: **SVZ

**Fandom: **Hikaru no Go

**Pairing: **AkiHika (eventual?), WayaSumi (eventual?)

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Hikaru no Go.

**Notes/Summary: **Gratuitous cliche Hikaru no Go boyband AU. PWP without the sex. A hell of a lot of clichés and Japanese music industry references…

**Simply Pulls the String**

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…_. Oka-san says she hopes you visit soon, so I assume she's forgiven you for the Great Carpet Fiasco. It's probably because she wants to subtly mention your visit to the women in her book club since you're now famous and all. My mother is such a teenybopper stuck in an adult's body, it's kind of sad. In any case, don't let the fame get to your head, Hikaru! I'd set you straight otherwise. _

_Come to think of it, I'd never imagine you would join a rock band after Sai… _

Me neither, Hikaru thinks, absently. He frowns and smooths out an invisible crease in the paper, while skimming the rest of the content in the letter.

While lost in thought, Waya takes the opportunity to snag the letter away. By the time Hikaru noticed, it was too late.

"Shindou's got a girlfriend," Waya sings, horribly off-key, reminding all present why he's the drummer opposed to the lead vocalist.

"Waya, Akari's not my—"Hikaru protests, attempting to grab his letter back.

"Cute stationary. She must really like penguins. Blah, blah, blah… wow,' Take care of yourself Hikaru—and I might be seeing you sooner than you think'?" Waya snickers, "That sounds kinda ominous if you ask me… hey, there's a postscript… Er, Shindou? Who's Yuki?"

"Her boyfriend," Hikaru answers, pointedly. "Can I have my letter back now?"

"All right," Waya sighs, tossing the piece of purple stationary back at his bandmate. "Tell your _friend_," Waya says with a wide grin, "that I think her stationary's cute and ask where she got it."

"I never knew you liked penguins," Isumi remarks, mildly from the window.

Waya rolls his eyes. "Not for me, dumbass."

"Yeah, yeah." Hikaru stuffs the letter into the pocket of his cargos. A quick look at the clock tells him that they have fifteen minutes left for their lunch break. Frankly, Hikaru knows that everyone is just grateful that they even have official lunch breaks on Sundays—but after Ogata's rather foreboding announcement at breakfast, none of them feel too hungry,

Speaking of which…

"Wonder what Ogata's going to say," Touya says, softly. He looks pensive, "It's not really like him to cancel all recording and training in the afternoon for just an announcement. It must be something big."

"Maybe he finally decided to soundproof the walls of his room?" Waya suggests, earning scandalized look from Isumi. "What? I know you can hear that too, you know."

"Is that why you keep coming back to our room even though you guys now have your own?" Hikaru asks, raising his eyebrows.

"Well, your room's nicer and you guys get a nice view."

"What's wrong with having a room next to Ogata?" Touya asks, curious. "He's perfectly nice."

"To you maybe," Waya retorts.

"Yesterday morning, a guy around my age came out of Ogata's room," Isumi says, running his fingers through his hair, shuddering.

"Without his shirt on," Waya pips in.

"…. You've got a point there." Touya coughs. "Back to before, what do you think Ogata wants?"

"To get inside Ashiwara's pants," Waya answers, promptly.

"—Aside from that, Waya," Touya sighs.

Hikaru nudges Touya, calling his attention back to the clock. "We'll find out in a minute, we're going to be late."

--

Thankfully, even though Hikaru thought he lost his voice, Akira immediately recoils and gives Ogata a tired but irritated look. "No," he says, firmly. "Last time we checked, we're a rock band, not w-inds--is that _pink spandex_?"

"Let's just hope Ogata doesn't pull a Johnny on any of us," Waya whispers, just loud enough for Hikaru to hear which causes him to quickly change his snort into a fit of hacking coughs.

"Very well," Ogata says, sighing loudly. Hikaru can't be completely sure but did he just sense _disappointment_ in his voice?

He doesn't want to know.

--

"That was rather…" Touya starts, his voice cracking, once they were back in the safety of Hikaru and Touya's shared and thankfully unbugged hotel room ("Shut up about that already, it could have happened!" Waya grumbles, his ears reddening).

"… disturbing…

"Mentally scarring…"

"Complete proof that Ogata is a repressed sexual predator in love with Ashiwara due to his innocent and child-like nature and is currently channeling his desire through us."

"Waya!"

Waya rolls his eyes. "Pfft. Touya, you know I'm right."

"Guys, we have the rest of the afternoon off," Isumi cuts in, hoping to distract the two of them. "We might have to call back some interviewer from this magazine later, but that aside, we have nothing planned."

"Video games," Waya and Hikaru both say at once, thinking to their unfinished game.

Isumi frowns. "That's all you guys ever do," he says, exasperated. "It's nice outside, we could go for a walk…" He turns to Touya, "How about you, Touya?"

Touya shrugs, reaching over for his bag and pulling out a thick novel. "I haven't had a chance to finish this." He taps the front cover.

"… Guess I'll just check my e-mail then," Isumi murmurs, dejected. He goes to plug his laptop in.

"WAYA, CATCH THE FAIRY."

"Why bother? We could just—"

"You _dumbass_--give me that! You're supposed to catch the—"

"Our goal is to save Zelda, not catch some dumb fairy! Give that back!"

"Waya, you know shit about video games!"

"I do not! Ocarina of Time is one of my favorites."

"Well, you idiot, you've been playing it wrong all this time!"

"Says who?"

"Says _me_, you dolt."

"We could have gone on a nice, peaceful walk," Isumi mumbles, logging in, while trying to ignore the argument five feet away from him. He shakes his head and sends a look at Touya who nodded sympathetically from his place on the windowsill, "If we'd just went to the park, we could have avoided this."

Touya makes a small noise of agreement.

Feeling a migraine coming on, Isumi raises his voice. "Waya, wasn't your screen name _Zelda _at one point?"

Shindou pauses from the tug-of-war game with Waya over the game controller. "Zelda?"

"… It was a long time ago!" Waya protests. "It was when I had just gotten the game and I hadn't played it yet—"

"…. Keep talking…"

"… I didn't know Zelda was a girl's name! I thought it was the name of the main character."

"You mean Link?"

"He's the one with the funny green hat, right?"

"… God, you are such a poseur."

"SHINDOU, TAKE THAT BACK!"

Isumi hopes the loud crash behind him wasn't Waya tackling Shindou onto the ground. Before he can check to verify, the page on his monitor loaded.

"According to Oricon, our old single is doing pretty well," Isumi comments, skimming down the chart on the official webpage. "Number fifteen. We're ahead of Ayu, at least."

"Our next single will stay number one longer," Hikaru promises, confident. "Ogata's already working us to death with it."

"We keep doing covers," Touya remarks, frowning. "I wonder why…"

"Maybe it's because you suck at songwriting," Waya suggests, watching Touya's face flush to an unattractive shade of purple. "After what happened last time—"

"There's a new Avex group forming," Isumi intervenes. "They're supposed to debut soon."

"Who cares," Waya says, rolling his eyes. "Our main competition is with Johnny's boybands."

"Which is pretty fucked up once you think of it," Hikaru comments, thoughtfully. "You'd think we'd attract fans of Ellegarden or Porno Graffitti."

"You're too pretty to be a rock star," Touya retorts, smirking. He ducks when Hikaru throws a pillow in his general direction.

"Pot calling kettle black, don't you think?" Hikaru scoffs, looking Touya up and down—from his perfectly pressed oxford shirt and jeans to his expensive leather shoes. "You have four different bottles of shampoo and conditioner _each_ and you _alternate_ between all of them."

"He's got a point there," Waya comments, thoughtful. "I've seen your bathroom Touya and…"

"Maybe we should all just dress like Shindou then," Touya shoots back, slanting another look at the other vocalist. The singer in question shudders, looking over his own clothes and imagining them on Touya.

"Waya might be able to pull it off…" Hikaru starts, contemplating. "We wear a lot of the same clothes..."

"I'm not copying you," Waya says, shaking his head. "I'm not punching five holes in my ears."

"It doesn't hurt!"

"You pierced it yourself!"

"And your point is?" Hikaru asks, flatly. "I don't see the problem, lots of guys have piercings."

"Waya's afraid of needles," Touya volunteers. "He almost always passes out whenever he has to get vaccinated and poor Isumi has to deal with him."

Isumi starts to close all the windows on the screen and prepare to shut down his computer once he notices the all too familiar expression on Waya's face and the rigidness of his posture. Not again, he thinks, preparing himself for the storm of loud protests coming from the drummer.

Isumi isn't disappointed when Waya and Touya end up bickering and Waya stalks out of the room in anger.

"I'll see if I can calm him down," Isumi promises, giving Hikaru and Touya a tired smile. He shifts his laptop case slightly so it wouldn't strain his back. "I think he's just—"

"I understand. Tell Waya I apologize, all right?" Touya says, sounding just as tired. When Isumi shuts the door behind him, Touya crosses the room and takes out his book again.

"Waya doesn't seem to like you very much," Hikaru observes, saving the unfinished Zelda game. "I've noticed that from the start. Any reason?"

"Long story," Touya mumbles, sighing. He rakes his hand through his hair, cursing. "I don't even know why. We just didn't hit it off when we first met."

"Which is strange since _we_ get along pretty well for the most part and Waya and I are a lot alike." Hikaru continues, "Although you do have to admit that you don't exactly go out of your way to be nice to him."

"I'm never rude to him either," Touya replies, sounding slightly affronted. "Waya just doesn't like me."

"Why?" Hikaru presses, staring at him. "I don't get it. You're quiet for the most part and when you do talk, you kinda have a stick up your ass at times, but you're a pretty nice guy otherwise."

"Thanks, Shindou, for that vote of confidence. You do wonders for peoples' self esteems."

"No, really. Why doesn't Waya like you?"

Touya shrugs. "Probably because he thinks I've had it easy since my father's in the music business. My father has always shuffled me from recording studio to another when I was young because of his work and when I became interested in music; I've always had voice coaches and such."

Hikaru stares at Touya as though he had just told him the moon was made out green cheese. "Well, that's screwed up," he says, finally.

"No kidding."

"Waya's just being dumb. You can sing, you can play the guitar and you can read sheet music…"

"Shindou," Touya reminds him, looking amused. "Most musicians can sight read."

"Well, _I_ can't," Hikaru retorts, sounding put-out.

"You're just special then." Touya pauses. "Listen, it's not like I don't appreciate it but it's okay, Waya and I have been like this since we've met. I think he's just been stressed lately—remember Ogata was short with him the past couple of days? He's just taking it out of me."

"If you say so," Hikaru sighs, unconvinced. "Any idea where our complimentary pen and stationary paper went?"

"Desk, second drawer."

"Thanks, tell me if that book of yours is any good, all right? I think we have a long magazine shoot tomorrow and last time, my mp3 player died on me."

--

Touya's usually the insomniac, not him, but Hikaru feels like every little sound echoes in the room. Creaks from the hallway from noisy and intoxicated guests, the traffic in the street… it makes him uneasy, as though his subconscious is telling him to watch out for something.

Hikaru shifts, trying to make as little noise as possible. Touya is an exasperatingly light sleeper and the last thing he wants to do is wake him up.

Still.

_Come to think of it, I'd never imagine you would join a rock band after Sai_…

What the hell _is_ he doing here, anyway? Of course, Touya "discovered" him and he agreed after Akari tricked him—but still, a _rock band_? Why did he accept Touya's offer? Was it because Touya thought he had potential?

Probably not, he _knew_ he was good and he had the chance to become big a few years ago---right before the accident happened.

Was it because of Touya, Isumi, and Waya?

Maybe. He liked them and he liked the music they were doing—real rock, unlike all those wussy boybands out there. He liked everyone well enough. Maybe that was why he joined and stayed.

He supposes he should be grateful they're doing pretty well, but at the same time, he wonders how long this will last. The music industry is fickle, after all, and there's no telling…

--

The girl in the white blazer and long, tan skirt looks apologetic when she informs all of them that due to an unfortunate scheduling mishap, someone from the magazine had asked a new group for an interview and photo shoot session as well.

"I'm really sorry, please accept my apologies," she stammers, her face flushing, bowing a few times. She twists her hands nervously, biting her lower lip.

Ogata sighs heavily, looking irritated but Ashiwara just smiles and tells her not to worry. The young manager glares at his partner when Ogata reaches in his pocket for a lighter and his pack of cigarettes and drags him away for coffee ("At least caffeine won't kill you," Ashiwara says, shaking his head).

"You're all free to stay here or chat with the members of Avex's new group," she says, looking much more at ease now that Ogata left. "They're consisted of two girls and a guy," she adds.

"Don't they have a name?" Waya asks.

"They're untitled as of now," the girl says, leading them to another room. "Avex is actually having a contest for naming them."

Hikaru shudders. "That's so _tacky_."

"We better hope that Ashiwara doesn't hear about this," Waya comments, grimacing. "He'll love the idea."

"They're in there," the girl comments, pointing to a door at the end of the hallway . "I have to go back to get things ready so…"

"We'll be fine." Isumi smiles, thanking her and reaches to turn the door knob when the door opens. A girl around Isumi's age stands before them, her pretty features twisted in a frown before her brown eyes lit up in recognition.

"Shindou, no time no see," she says, grinning.

"Nase?" Hikaru blinks, well, _this_ is unexpected… then again, hadn't Akari mentioned that Nase was looking into singing?

"Hey Nase, who's at the door?"

"_Kaga_!"

Hikaru turns around in time to see Waya and Touya's baffled "fish-out-of-water" expressions, even Isumi looks surprised. Now, he muses, where have I heard his name before?

Nase nudges him, her eyes sparkling with mirth. "Well, this is unexpected... but Shindou, the surprise doesn't end here," she adds, smirking.

"I'm not sure I like the sound of that…" Hikaru starts, but the guy called "Kaga" interrupts him before he can finish his sentence.

"Hey, aren't you that kid who replaced me in 'Go Jumpy Boys'?" he asks, leaning forward to get a better look of him. The smoke from his cigarette makes Hikaru's eyes water.

Well, Hikaru thinks, at least I now remember why he seems familiar.

---

Thanks goes to Storyteller, Kisha and Kish, Kotomine, and Sesca3 and all of you guys on LJ. The ending of this chapter is a bit shot (okay, more than just a bit-- I wish I remembered how I ended it in my first draft)and I'm honestly making this up as I go along, so I'm not sure if I'll continue this AU. Everything's up in the air. (Also, no, Akari is **not** the new member.)

Constructive criticism and comments welcomed.


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